According to the phenomenal conservatives, beliefs are justified
by non-doxastic states we might speak of as ‘appearances’ or
‘seemings’. Those who defend the view say that there is
something self-defeating about believing that phenomenal
conservatism is mistaken. They also claim that the view captures
an important internalist insight about justification. I shall argue
that phenomenal conservatism is indefensible. The considerations
that seem to support the view commit the phenomenal
conservatives to condoning morally abhorrent behavior. They can
deny that their view forces them to condone morally abhorrent
behavior, but then they undercut the defenses of their own view.